Hygienic mitten.



W. A. MORRISOI\L HYGIENIG MITTEN.

APPLIGATION FILED 00T.12 1910.

1053,20 L Patented Feb. 13, 1913.

WILLIAM A. MORRISON, O13 BOSTON, MASSACHUSE'ITS.

HYGIENIG MITTEN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Pateiated Feb. 18, 1913.

Applieation filed October 12, 1910. SerialNo. 586,681.

T0 all whom z't mag concem:

Be it knovvn that I, WILLIAM A. MORRI- SON, of Boston, in the county ofSuf'folk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Hygienic Mittens, of Whi0h the following is aspecification.

The object of the present invention is toprovide a guard for the handsfor hygienic ancl curative purposes, in order to facilit-ate the eure ofskin diseases and eruptions which produce itching. In order to eure suchdiseases and aflections it is essential that the skin should not bebroken or scratched, laut to make the persons afflicted with suchtroubl-e refrain from scratching is diflicult, ancl in the case ofchildren, impossible. Moreover during sleep adults as well as childrenare liable t0 scratoh the affected places unconsciously andinvoluntarily.

It is the obj-ect of my invention to provide a guard which Will makeslcratehing impossible by surrounding the band with an envelop thesurface of Which is at once so smooth and soft that it cannot injure 01irritate the afi'ected part of the skin, no

matter how hard it may be pressed against the a1fected place, while itis at the same time of such nature that it will distriloute the pressureof' a finger end or knuckle and malte it impossible for the patient toapply a sufficiently harol ancl localized pressure at any point toproduce injury.

One of the forms in which my inwantion is reduced to practice isillustrated in the drawings, in Which 4 Figure 1 represents a si-cleelevation of a guard suitalole for the purpose. Fig. 2 represents anelevation of the guard from a position at right angles to the view pointof Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the guard.

The same reference charaoters indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

Briefiy stated the guard consists of an inner sack or mitten a which isdesigned to fit somewhat closely about the closed band, and an outercover Z) separated from the inner sack, which also may loe tefmed thelining, 011 all sides by a space 0 which is aclapted to contain airunder pressure and form a pneumatic envelop. The guard as a whole isadapted to loe drawn over the band in the manner of a glove or mitten,the inner sack or lining thereof fitting the hand. This inner member mayloe made in the form of a glove having digitations -to reoeive thefingers and thumlo, or of a mitten with a separate pocket for the thumloonly, or, as here shown, as a bag in which the fingers anol thumlo areall contained.

The lining a and outer cover b a1e made ofsome material impervious toair, such as rubber, fabric impregnated with rubber, o1 any othermaterial known to the arts and having the desired qualities. Thismaterial may be more or less elastic 01' wholly inelastic, if desired.

Attached to the cover Z) and communicating With the intermediate space 0is an ai1: valve 0Z through which air may be blown to fill the air spaceand inflate tl1e outer envelop. The air pressure is preferably raised tosuch a point that the wearer 0f the mitten Will be unalole to protrude afinger 01 knuckle across the air space and against the external coveringso as to form a hard point capalole of scratching the skin. Motion ofthe lining as a whole toward either side of the outer cover is preventedby stay pieces Which retain the inner memloer centrally within the outermember and preserve the air space of uniform thickness on all sides.

The spacers may be of any suitable character, those which I haveillustrated being strips co-nnected at their opposit-e edges to theinner and outer members respectively, and crossing the air space, one ofsuch strips, as e, being carried from the back of the mitten around theend to the front side, and another, as f, being carried from one side tothe other also around the end. More than two such strips may beemployecl if desired and the arrangement may loe varied from that shownaccording as the needs of any particular case require. Where the spacingstrips are disposed as here shown, they ter minate short of the wristend of the envelop so that the ai1v aclmitted to the valve may flovvinto all of the compartments of the air spa0e which are divided from oneanother by the spacing strips. These strips may also be apertured topermit free'flow of air through them. The strips may be very soft andflexible, and must not be so stifl as oi' themselves to scratch theskin. Provided they have suflicient tensile strength to tie the innerand outer memloers of the guard together, they need have no apprecialole stifl'ness.

Conveniently a cross bar ginay be held a1; its ends within the innermember so as 170 cross the same in such position that it may be graspedby the band.

'lhe .main feature 01 the presentinvention is that it provides a softenve1op which entirely surrounds thehand on every side so that nowhereis any hard or harsh point 1eft capable of injuring the skin in themanner above noted.

I claim,

l. A band guard c01nprising an air tight Sack provided with a wristopening and shaped eo form an interior chamber in which the hand isadapted 130 be moved freely, and

an outer air tight cover inclosing said sack except a1; the wristopening 5Llld separated from the sack ab all points by an air space,whereby a soft anal yielding exterior surface is provided, andlongitudinally disposed stays uniting said sack und said outer Cover, aspace being formed between the ends 0f said stays and the rear Wall ofsaid cover,

Whreby pressure in said air space is cqual- 1ze 2. A mitten 01hand-guard for use in the treatment of skin diseases, comprising aninner sack adapted to surround the hand of the Patient and having awrist opening, an outer sack of a soft and flexible 1naterial imperviousto air, enveloping the inner sank and in air tightconnection therewithadjacent to the wrist ortion, there being an inflatable air spacebetween the inne1 and outer sacks ab all points except the wristconnection, and separated flexible st-ays crossing the air space, sodisposed at all sides 0f the mitten as to prevent any art of the bandwithin exerting concentrated pressure through the outer sack.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

WILLIAM A. MORRISON.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. BROWN, P. W. PEZZETTI.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents eaeh, by addressingthe Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

